ScottishMaid

Do you like to wander the deck with a pair of binoculars or camera looking for seabirds ? Would you like to attend quality lectures about wildlife, the ocean, how to take better photographs ?

Would you like the option of an evening lecture between shows ? Would you like to go to small ports little visited by HAL or other cruiselines ? Would you appreciate that you are getting this at a fraction of the price of a small expedition ship such as Lindblad ?

We have been on two Maasdam trips since the new EXC program started, one for 48 days from Fort Lauderdale to French Polynesia via Easter Island, and one for 46 days from Seattle to Alaska and around Japan. In January we are going on the Maasdam around New Zealand. We are going because we appreciate we are seeing some unusual ports and learning a huge amount, including about local culture, history, geology, local foods, at a bargain price and the EXC on the Maasdam may not last much more if not supported.

Our experience is that about half the passengers really love the format and were traveling for multiple segments and are returning for more, whereas a small number, mostly non English speakers, enjoyed lying in the sun. However many people were totally unaware of the EXC In Depth program and had booked their cruise last minute through a travel agent or online, assuming the Maasdam was the same as any big new cruise ship. They expected a different experience.

Thank you. This has been great and encouraging news for our January trip on the Maasdam.

Done northbound San Diego to Vancouver twice in spring. Rough on Veendam around Santa Barbara/ Point Conception and rough, cold, windy on Amsterdam before and after San Francisco port call.

Thanks!

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

 some very in-depth port lectures given by Kay, our Cruise and Travel Director. In fact she gave such a good one about Komodo Island today, she is giving it again tomorrow because there wasn’t enough room in the theater for everyone to attend it today. 

Is this Kay, the lady from New Zealand who was formerly an EXC guide on the Maasdam? She is very enthusiastic about the program.

Also do you still have Captain Arno Jutten and Hotel Director Florin Dragomir? If not who are the current Captain and hotel director?

Enjoying all your information as we will be back on board in January.

2 hours ago, metairiegal said:

Do people wear orange all day, or is it only for a party that is held at night?

We were on the Maasdam for 3 segments over the summer. There was an Orange party on each segment, held in the Crow's Nest at about 9:30 pm. It was well attended - the Hotel Director, Captain, and many staff were there. There was dancing to the DJ's music and the bar tenders wore orange vests and some had orange wigs. Food was passed around, including Dutch buns and other Dutch foods. You had to buy your own drinks but it might have been Happy Hour. It usually was 9-10 pm in the Crow's Nest. There were tee shirts for sale in the shops - orange with the words Orange Party in large white letters. I didn't see many people wearing them. Some people brought their own orange items with them. A few people wore them all day.

I thought on the small ship Maasdam it produced a convivial atmosphere between staff and guests. The Hotel Director Florin Dragomir told us he likes to see the guests enjoy themselves. Also it reinforced HAL's Dutch origins.

51 minutes ago, sevenseasnomad said:

With the cutbacks, I was shocked to read that HAL is considering the in-depth program for its entire fleet. 

To clarify what I said in post #44, we were told there may be EXC programs extended to all the ships, but they would not be as "In Depth" as on the Maasdam. I think the intent is to have more speakers than now on the other ships but not as many as on the Maasdam.

Seattle has taken note that many people are interested in, for example, talks about volcanoes, or jelly fish, or Japanese etiquette, or how to take better photos or how to cook a local dish.

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

As requested here are the EXC speakers that are on the ship now:

 

Ben Osborne - photographer

 

Chris Cook - naturalist

 

Dr Christina Damiano - oceanographer

 

Erin Britton - biologist/naturalist

 

Dr Peter Carey - Director of Explorations for HAL

Thanks for posting this. Dr Peter Carey  was the person hired to set up the In Depth program well ahead of the first cruise in September 2018. We had him with us on that cruise to Easter Island and French Polynesia. He has a huge amount of prior experience with zodiacs and on that cruise he was working out how to get the passengers onto the zodiacs. Unfortunately many ports or countries are not giving permission to use the zodiacs.

He was not  on board our Alaska to Japan and around Japan cruises last summer so I'm glad he's back on board to keep the program going.

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

When we get the When and Where on the evening before our next sea day in a few days, I’ll try to remember to write them down. Yes, on one of the two sea days we’ve had so far there was a Travel Tales presentation and it was a lot of fun.
 

In addition since maybe only 15-20 people showed up, we all asked Chris a variety of questions. One of mine was to ask if he knew if HAL was planning to expand the in-depth EXC program to other ships, but he didn’t know. 

When we were on the Maasdam in August we were told that the In Depth program had been such a success that they were going to have an EXC program on all the ships with about 4 speakers/ themes on each. I think they were to be culture, nature, photography and a visiting chef to demo local foods.

That seems pretty ambitious to find so many high quality speakers.

I think we were told this in answer to a question at a Captain's Q&A.

When you get time please post the names of the speakers. Some of the naturalists have worked for the really expensive small ship lines but said they enjoyed the Maasdam more.

Is there Travel Tales in the Crow's Nest at 9 pm? We really enjoyed the chance to hear a personal story from a speaker then ask questions. We heard some amazing stories.

We were recently on the Maasdam in an inside cabin on Deck 3 midship. The internet was fine inside our cabin. We had the middle price package and it seemed to work much better than in the past for email download. I noticed there was a cone on the hallway ceiling near our cabin. I think this is the wifi signal ??

Photos on blog website won't open for me.

Great photos! It looks somewhat similar to the small river off the Amazon at Santarem where we went fishing for piranhas. Not surprising since both are near the Equator.

I was told at the Maasdam Front Desk that I could NOT use the non refundable OBC to donate to the crew fund. I had prepaid gratuities.

Here's a link to a website with swell. Look at bottom left to see different date predictions.

https://magicseaweed.com/SW-Pacific-Surf-Chart/52/?type=swell

Awesome pics!

Jill and Joe

It's traditional English breakfast if you leave out the sweet roll and add a banger i.e. fat sausage. The back bacon is hard to find in California and expensive.

Feeling sorry for Captain Jutten if he is losing more sleep checking weather forecasts. It is looking similar to our two October trips through the region.

The lectures all sound great though. I counted seven events I would have attended during the last sea day you reported.

Hi to all friends still on the Maasdam. We loved our 46 days.

Jill

7 minutes ago, LewiLewi said:

I can't find the roll call for this voyage. Can you?

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2667823-amsterdam-grand-africa-october-3-2020/

2 hours ago, tvlgoddess said:

Who did you talk to?  I called early this morning and they told me it will be the end of the day before any changes can be done and to call back then

Someone at the Grand Voyages number. They were very busy even at 7 am Pacific Time.

I got a cabin change but she couldn’t tell me if the total $5k cabin deposit is refundable. She said to call back later. 

No painting classes last October but photography classes were good. The teachers changed while I was on board and one was teaching artistic creative photography so you might enjoy that. There wasn't a big expectation to have a more complicated camera than an iPhone.

Another speaker gave talks on flowers and also on birds of the South Pacific. He illustrated his talks with many beautiful photos. It was fun to put names to the flowering plants and trees and also birds we were seeing on the islands.

Is this pricing from Boston or Fort Lauderdale?

Holland America's Maasdam is going San Francisco and Seattle to Japan in July 2019, then around Japan.

A group of us are booked for this tour from the Maasdam this August. So glad it went well.

4 hours ago, ris_scot said:

Unfortunately we are not on your cruise but on the next visit of the Maasdam.  Could you share the name of the company you are using for this tour as we have nothing booked yet for our visit to Kodiak on 17th July.

 

ris-scot: We would like to go with you on 17 July if you go to Ft Abercrombie State Park. We want to walk/hike around there and visit the museum and take more time than the $70 pp ship tour.

Jill and Joe